For the purposes of teaching and learning text passages are often compared to one another to highlight the similarities and differences between two or more texts. Passages which are identical in multiple texts may be more important for understanding the meaning of the texts than passages which occur in only one text. For example the biblical texts of the new testament gospels are often compared to highlight relationships between different gospels.
Often when texts are compared the texts are arranged in vertical columns, with similar passages horizontally adjacent on the page. FIG. 1, a page reproduced from Synopsis of the four Gospels, Kurt Aland editor, American Bible Society, New York, N.Y., 1982, is a typical example. When a given text is longer than the other texts white space, or gaps, are allowed to form in the shorter texts to allow similar passages to remain adjacent to one another. Further examples may be found in the following publications: A Harmony of the Gospels for Students, Ralph Daniel Heim, Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1947, The NIV Harmony of the Gospels with explanations and essays, Robert L. Thomas Editor, Stanley N. Gundry Associate Editor, HarperSanFrancisco, division of HarperCollins Publishers, New York, N.Y., 1988, Gospel Parallels, A comparison of the Synoptic Gospels, Burton H. Throckmorton, Jr. Editor, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tenn., 1992, and A Synopsis of the Gospels, H. F. D. Sparks, Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1964.
An problem associated with placing similar passages horizontally adjacent is that the reader's eye must jump from column to column to read and compare the texts. The reader may easily lose his place when trying to move the eye back and forth between columns. In addition, placing the texts horizontally adjacent makes it difficult for the reader to compare texts that are distant from one another on the page. Comparing the text in column one to the text in columns three or four is burdensome.
One solution to the problem of placing similar passages horizontally adjacent is to place them vertically adjacent. Vertically adjacent text placement has been used in text translation as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,778,950. In this case translated words are placed above or below the corresponding words in the text that is being translated.
Text color coding has also been used to aid learning and understanding of text as discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,639,139 and 4,270,284. Theses references and all other references described in this application are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The continued work in the field shows that there is an ongoing need for better ways of comparing texts to facilitate teaching and learning.